Drunken prisoners fight guards

Eight convicts caught drinking homemade alcohol in the kitchen of the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility sparked a fight between inmates and guards Monday.

"They were drunk," Deputy Secretary of Operations for the New Mexico Department of Corrections Joe Booker said.

The inmates were so drunk that a guard stopped one prisoner after smelling alcohol on his breath, authorities said. That's when a fight between belligerent inmates and guards erupted.

"It was a very dangerous situation. The inmate kicked one of the officers," Booker said.

After calling for backup, the brawl escalated. In total, three guards were rushed from the Los Lunas facility to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque. Injuries included a cut up eye that needed stitches, a shoulder injury and one officer suffered a strained jaw after being punched.

All of the officers are expected to recover fully. Booker said despite the incident landing officers in the hospital, the situation could have been a lot worse.

"Seven or eight inmates that were drunk that could've caused a lot more harm,” Booker said.

Now the Department of Corrections is investigating how these eight inmates smuggled enough fruit or bread from the facility's kitchen, then how they hid a container from the officers in order to make the alcohol, and finally, how the prisoners evaded guards in order to drink together -- all while inside a prison.